NO TITLE IN SOUTH CAROLINA

david bluetile

New Member
well ive just started getting into all this stuff and have probably made my first mistake. i bought a bike with no title. the fella i bought it from is being as helpful as possible but he can only do so much other than give me my money back and i would rather work this out. i figured i would start a thread here so i can kind of lay the process ive been through so far for anyone else who may have the same problem.

i dont think its going to be that big of a deal. i kind of abandoned ship but ill get to that in a bit.

so i went to the DMV and the richland county tax office to see what i needed to do to get a title for a bike that i didnt have the title for. of course there is a title out there some where but hell if i can get my hands on it. both places said i needed a bill of sale or a title to get a new title. so i went back to the guy i bought it from and got a hand written bill of sale. that didnt work but the lady gave me a legal bill of sale for us to fill out. i took that to the guy i bought the bike from and it sort of worked.... not really... the county let me pay taxes on the vehicle but they did not let me title the vehicle just because i had a tax receipt in my name. lesson learned.

you hear everyone say you can just get a salvage title. you can not. you need a titled frame to get a salvage title.

so myself and hank (the fella i bought the bike from) got together and started trying to track down the guy that he bought the bike from so we can get the title. he bought it off of ebay from a guy in wisconsin 5 years ago. hank contacted ebay and they did in fact have contact information from the guy in wisconsin. well the fella in wisconsin also never got a title and the guy he got it from died in a snow mobile accident.

so the south carolina dept of motor vehicles is not being very helpful and will not issue a title even though the bike has not been tagged as stolen and has not been on the road in close to 20 years. i guess they are just doing their job and protecting people from having their stuff stolen and flipped by someone who has been sitting on it for as many years.

the lady at the DMV said i could apply for a homemade vehicle title but it would be a mighty healthy process. i would need pictures of all the parts i used to make the bike and receipts as proof of purchase of said parts. well the further i dipped into that the more red tape i ran into. i will still need a title for the frame... which i do not have. scratch that idea.

while on the the scdmv site i noticed there was a section for an abandoned vehicle title. so say you bought a farm and there was an old junker somewhere lost in the woods on your new property you could some how apply for an abandoned vehicle title. however.... im in the dmv system now as trying to title a bike with no title so when i approached the dmv with this abandoned title option i was quickly shot down because im in the records with a whole different story. because of this i was unable to delve any further down the abandoned vehicle title road but it is interesting and if anyone else knows what thats all about id like to hear.

so that leads me to where i am now. kind of abandoning ship and moving onto getting a new title.

i went to a local bike shop called D&D motor sports and they suggested i used a service called broadway title service. i didnt know these places existed but apparently you can go this route. instead i got some info from a fellow DTT member and contacted a place called Detroit Vintage Cycles.
they have a title service and it seems a little more low key than actually going through a title service business. it just seems more personal and one on one. i like that.

so i contacted those guys at this link http://detroitcyclesales.webs.com/titleservice.htm
and ill keep you posted as to how this goes.

anyone else in SC had similar troubles? what did you do?
 
In NC you just get a bonded title. Easy enough , ask at the dmv for application to apply for bonded title. call insurance companies locally and ask about surity or indemnity bonds. Post you bond and go get your title. But thats in nc though. cost about 150$ all in all.
 
It seems like you're making a lot out of this. Just start asking around the DMV about a bonded title. It's way easier than researching multiple owners through ebay.

My bonded title cost something like $150 out the door, and I'd gladly pay that over what you're trying to do.

--Chris
 
I am facing the same problem in charleston SC as well, from what I hear you can't get a bonded title either without having a buisness license to a shop, basically saying you did work to the bike and have a lean against it, if i'm wrong someone let me know. Any extra info on this prob would be Awsome
 
I'm going to be heading down to the DMV in charleston today to see if I can get thsi sorted out with my bike, I seem to have a pretty good track record of getting what I want at the dmv so we'll see what happens.
 
So I made it to the DMV yesterday and what I was told that with bill of sale only you can go to your local magistrate's court and get a magistrate's title then go to DMV and get a real one. She said it works best if you can get the bill of sale from the person you got the bike from to the PO as well. Will be trying this within the next week or so and will report on how it goes. She did say that its more or less up to the magistrate so if they look like they're in a shitty mood try again another day ;)
 
I live in Maine a non title state. If you want I can register your bike in Maine (in my name) and then "sell" it back you. You get a notarized Bill of sale and a Maine registration. I have done this several times for other members of this and other forums. with 100% success. Its 100% legit using the loopholes in the system.

pm me for details, I can give you references
 
Sorry for hashing the dead, but I live in SC also. I went to a friend that lives in GA and got him to title bond it. If you know anyone in Savannah since your so close, get them to do it. SC doesn't do title bonds on cars, bikes, trailers, or anything like that
 
FYI - got a friend who is a moderator on a two stroke board and lives in SC -

he uses ITS title service on over 20 bikes with 100% success.
 
A link to this thread was posted for me on another forum.I wanna share my SCDMV experiences.

About 5 years ago I bought a bike from NC.Before the purchase I contacted SCDMV to make sure I had the proper paper work.I was told that I needed a signed title and that was all.I told the lady that I was buying from NC.I have bought and sold cars in SC since the late 80's.I go to NC and pick up the bike and title.The next day,I go to the DMV.They said I needed a notarized bill of sale and title from the state in which the bike was lasted registered.So I get the paper work needed.Back at the DMV,they gave me a number to call, and said that I needed to make an appointment to have a home inspection done of the bike.I go home,make the call,and get the inspection set up.Next day,the inspector shows up.He is a retired state trooper.He looks over the bike,tells me I have 24 hours to show him a VIN on the frame neck,or the bike would be confiscated and I would be charged.With what I don't know.Overnight, I strip the front of the bike and sand the frame neck down.The numbers were there and matched my paper work.Did I mention that the bike had just been painted?Anyway.I called the guy that morning,he redid the inspection,and verified my paper work.Off to SCDMV with a smile and my paper work.There I was told they needed to inspect the bike again.So I go back home,reassemble the bike,and go back to the DMV.I wait for an hour and she inspects the bike.She told me she needed to see the VIN or the bike would be confiscated and I would be charged.So I stripped the bike in the parking lot.Go in and wait a few more hours for my number to come up.She comes out,redoes the inspection,gives me my tag and paper work.I left,reassembled the bike, and loaded up.

Fast forward three years.The SCDMV had under gone a make over and things were umm better?I had bought two parts bikes with no titles.One was for the bike I just spoke of titling, and I had found a cheap frame to build another bike to ride.Knowing the DMV had under gone a make over,I called and asked exactly what paper work I needed to purchase a bike frame from California.Once again,I was told that all I needed was a signed title and a tax receipt.I call the guy and let him know I sent him the money through paypal.He promptly shipped the frame because he was moving overseas to work.I received the frame later that week and the title in the mail the next day.Thinking I had time,I rebuilt the parts bike on the new frame.Unfortunately,I got busy building and didn't try getting a title for almost a year.I go through the same crap again.Except this time I can't get the correct paper work so I didn't make it to the inspection stage.The guy I bought the bike from,didn't leave any info behind for me to contact him and his phone number changed when he moved overseas.

Fast forward again,to last month.Since all of that,I have accumulated enough parts to rebuild both parts bikes, and the frame I bought and started building up.So I posted on another forum about my titling issues.I called a titling service in Maine.They said that I needed to send them a notarized bill of sale certified mail.They would in turn,register my bike in their business name,and send me a new registration and notarized bill of sale.Maine is a non titling state.SCDMV will not accept any registration as title.SCDMV stated this to me,"We only accept a notarized bill of sale and title from the state in which the vehicle was last registered.We do not accept out of state registration for titling or notarized SC bill of sale with an out of state title."So now I have a frame with a useless title and two parts bikes I can't register at all.

Anyone have any new ideas that I can try to get my frame titled and titles for my parts bikes?
 
diesel450 said:
I live in Maine a non title state. If you want I can register your bike in Maine (in my name) and then "sell" it back you. You get a notarized Bill of sale and a Maine registration. I have done this several times for other members of this and other forums. with 100% success. Its 100% legit using the loopholes in the system.

pm me for details, I can give you references

I am sending you a PM.
 
I finally got a return call from the Columbia,SC DMV which is the DMV main office in SC.I got passed around to three different people on the phone Wednesday and I felt like a cheap whore when they were done with me.ROFLMAO! The response I got from the three people was,"There are no non titling states anymore.All states are required to title any vehicle of any type that was purchased after 1959."They told me that I could bring in my paper work and that they could advise me on how to proceed.I don't know how they could advise me, except repeat to me that I am required to have a notarized bill of sale and title from the state it was last registered in.

Would someone that has titled a bike in SC, with a registration and bill of sale,PLEASE post how you done it in SC.You could also PM the info to me.
 
I don't think this will help because it doesn't quite apply. I just moved from Atlanta to Greenville. I had my bike registered in GA with no title (because GA IS a no title state). In order to get my bike registered and titled in SC I had to get a letter from the state of Georgia saying that they would not title my bike. So with my GA registration, the letter, my tax receipt and my insurance card, I got it titled and registered! Of course, I had it registered in my name before.

I'm not sure how that helps you, but they do have provisions for registering/titling nontitled bikes. I found somewhere on the website where you had to get that letter. Under "moving from out of state" maybe. I also had to sign a form saying that they were going to stamp "undisclosed lien" on my title since it was not titled previously.

They are jerking you around.
 
Flugtechnik said:
I don't think this will help because it doesn't quite apply. I just moved from Atlanta to Greenville. I had my bike registered in GA with no title (because GA IS a no title state). In order to get my bike registered and titled in SC I had to get a letter from the state of Georgia saying that they would not title my bike. So with my GA registration, the letter, my tax receipt and my insurance card, I got it titled and registered! Of course, I had it registered in my name before.

I'm not sure how that helps you, but they do have provisions for registering/titling nontitled bikes. I found somewhere on the website where you had to get that letter. Under "moving from out of state" maybe. I also had to sign a form saying that they were going to stamp "undisclosed lien" on my title since it was not titled previously.

They are jerking you around.

From my understanding,a bike can't be sold with and type of lien stamp.That's the whole reason I want a title so I can sell the bike to buy another one.

I do believe I am being jerked around.
 
I meant that there are "no title states". Our neighbor (Georgia) is one of them.

They said that after 120 days I can request a new title, and that lien stamp won't be on there.
 
Flugtechnik said:
I meant that there are "no title states". Our neighbor (Georgia) is one of them.

They said that after 120 days I can request a new title, and that lien stamp won't be on there.

I get it now.
 
boykinjw said:
Ben any success on the title?

Just sent my paper work to Diesel.I got caught up with life and forgot to post the info to him.I will keep things posted as they happen.It will take roughly 2 weeks for Diesel to process everything and another 2+ weeks for me to get all my paper work filed and returned to me from the SCDMV.Remember,we are working at the speed of gooberment.LOL
 
I wanna add this.I have no doubts in Diesel420 or his services.My doubts lie within my state DMV and the uninformed personnel that works there.
 
i've been looking at bikes in the columbia area for the better part of the last two years: i am so glad that i didn't buy anything without a title.

yeah, there is a special place in hell for some of the people who work at the columbia SCDMV on shop rd.

p.s. i remember you mentioning earlier you were selling a bike? got a link? wanna pm me?
 
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